Nomadic Treasure
by Wordgawk
Summary: If racing after riches wasn't an adventure itself, how does losing loot fare? Elena finds out from Nathan.


**Author's note: With the popularity of Uncharted, I was surprised there aren't many stories written for the series. The appeal of the characters got my fingers typing to write something about them. I will always remember how to emergency parachute out of a plane thanks to dear Nate. ^_^**

**Story is post-game.**

* * *

Nomadic Treasure

After what must have been the longest shower of her life, Elena managed to rouse herself from the blissful waves of hot water to turn off the tap. She had never been so appreciative for a hotel before. Who would've thought what started as a simple documentary of Mr. Nathan Drake's discovery of Francis Drake's alleged corpse could turn into a shooting bonanza through foliage and ruined architecture? They found a place to crash for the night. Luxurious it was not, but it was habitable and that was better.

Elena snatched a towel, dried her hair, and dressed. She left the tresses loose instead of tying it up in her typical ponytail. Natural air was better for drying. She yawned. Fatigue nipped at her bones, but sleep would not beckon. Last night her brain felt too wired to sleep and she stayed up all night. Maybe heading downstairs to the hotel's loosely dubbed cafe was a good idea. "Cafe" being a generous word; there were vending machines with the best assortment of greasy junk foods and scalding hot beverages one could hope for anytime of the day.

A dull thump lifted her head to attention. It came from next door. Where Nathan was staying.

Curiosity led her to grab her key and leave her room. Out in the hallway as the key clicked in her lock, the clunks sounded clearer. Was there a moose wreaking havoc in there?

Moving in front of the mystery room, Elena knocked loudly. "Hey, what's the party?"

More scuffling noises, following by a frustrated grunt. There was no reply.

The lack of response sent a notch of concern up Elena's spine. What if the person was a burglar and not him? Unless the person was Sully, but he was always trolling for honeys at the bar down the street. "Uh, are you all right in there?" She raised her knuckles to rap the wood again.

Heavy breathing met her ears as it drew closer from behind the door. Out of instinct and slight paranoia, Elena clamped her raised hand into a fist just as the door forcefully wrenched open.

Elena blinked in surprise at the hefty bulk planted there. The man was Nathan all right, and he seemed highly disturbed. Frazzled, his dark hair was in disarray and his thick eyebrows were pulled in a perpetual frown.

Her punching hand suspended in mid-pummel, Elena shakily smiled and wagged her fingers into an impromptu wave. "Uh, surprise?"

"What is it?" Nathan demanded testily. He leaned his hand against the doorjamb and spread his feet apart to block entry, a clear sign of being unwelcome.

Not one for being undone by an unreceptive man, Elena effortlessly ducked her short form under his arm without permission and entered before she answered. "I wanted to know if I should bring chips to this festive..."

She trailed off when her eyes fixated on the surroundings. Nathan's untidiness was worse than she imagined. Clothes were strewn about on the floor and bed. Random toiletries and belongings had jumped and fallen out of his suitcase onto the floor too. Everything he seemed to own in his luggage littered floor space. "Geez, what happened?"

"I'm looking for something," Nathan answered tersely, slamming the door and resuming his search.

Ok, that explained the thunking. "What did you lose?"

"I can't believe I lost it. I can't believe it," Nathan repeated in a mumble to himself, grabbing a fistful of his short hair. His eyes darted around to attack another spot with careful surveillance.

Elena couldn't fathom what was so important to spin Nathan in such a tizzy. She ventured a guess. "Not your share of the loot Sully found for us, is it? That really bites."

Nathan spun around to stare at her. His eyes burned into hers and a zing of fear pulsed in her stomach. "The ring."

Elena felt a clutch in her chest. Francis Drake's keepsake meant as much to him as her video camera she unwillingly abandoned in their adventure, if not more. Her retrieval of Nathan's memento was no picnic, either; Blackened hallways, disfigured and clawed creatures lurking about. She allowed herself a shudder before she joined the search. "Where did you last see it?"

"I don't know!" Nathan's voice rose in desperation. "Sully and I went for a couple drinks last night. I had too many, I guess, 'cause I can't remember what happened after I stepped inside here. Thank god I'm standing. An explosion probably blew up my stuff because I can't find a thing. Damn it, I'm an idiot!"

"Well, let's try to think logically," Elena reasoned, scanning the floor to discern where Nathan had already ransacked so she could find a new spot.

Nathan clutched his forehead. "I can't think. That's the problem!"

A hangover and negativity. Like those were going to solve his dilemma. "Just tell me where you need to look and I'll check those areas out."

"I don't need your help." A growl issued from his throat as he flipped over a crumpled pair of jeans.

Elena tossed him a dubious quirk of her lips. "Riiiight, big guy. Your room exploded and you're traversing high and low to find the proverbial needle in a haystack."

"No, I don't!" Nathan yelled in a loud enough voice to boom in her ears. "This is important and I've got to do it!"

"I understand that but you do require assistance." Elena was beginning to get slightly annoyed at being harped on, stepping into the direction of the small bathroom. If there was one place with the most potential to hide things, this was it.

"It's more important than lunch now, meeting up with Sully when I promised him I would," Nathan grumbled, tossing a worn compass from the carpet onto his unmade bed with the half-fallen sheets.

"Yuh-huh," Elena automatically humored as he listed away, nudging aside a pair of grungy socks with her foot. She dared not touch those with any other part of her body.

Nathan kept his tirade going, glaring at an overturned glass he almost crushed beneath his heel. "Better than that lame camcorder being stuck in my face every other minute. Losing it in the sea was best."

That hurt. The special she worked so hard on was lost within a thought's passing when she chose to preserve her life over it. She hated surrendering the precious video and she had accepted the loss of her sensational story for the most part, but for Nathan to throw the demise like a pie in her face was insulting.

Elena picked up the nearest object which would not cause permanent brain damage --a bladed shaver-- and hurled it at him. The piece of plastic bounced off the side of his head, startling Nathan. His befuddled shock pleased her. His angry scowl had become unthinkably ugly.

Not like it seriously mattered to Elena; she was out of here. She wheeled right around and pointed herself at the front door. Let him stew in agony himself, the moron.

Elena's small hand grasped the doorknob. A squeeze on her upper arm from behind stayed her for a second, but she ignored the gesture and resumed twisting the knob. Nathan's quiet baritone floated next to her ear. "W-wait, I'm sorry."

"Whatever." She yanked her elbow free and reached out to twist the knob again. Her hand slipped completely off it when her arms were pinned at her sides. Nathan's burly hands clenched both her forearms now. Great, no escape. She wasn't going to watch him, though. He'd only be surly at her.

"I take my idiocy back," Nathan apologized. "Finding the ring is frustrating." He sounded deeply regretful in such a short period. He tugged her body closer and Elena bumped lightly against his chest. To her amazement, she felt his heart jackhammering through his thin shirt. Was he nervous?

Elena sensed his eyes searching and trying to hold hers as he craned his neck to view her profile. Elena wasn't giving him satisfaction and turned her chin away when he made any eye contact.

They chased a while longer, Nathan wanting to steal her gaze and Elena refusing to be snared. Elena yelped when Nathan spun her around lightning quick. She still averted her eyes, staring at the side to the distance at his upended suitcase. Ignoring her peripheral vision was impossible since she faced him. Nathan stood so close, staring at her so intensely that she felt awkward.

"C'mon, give me the card," Nathan pleaded. Elena observed his lips move.

Elena finally glanced at him. He made no sense. "What?"

Capturing her attention at last, Nathan gave her a lopsided grin. "Y'know, the 'Be an Idiot for a Day' free card. I give it to you and then when I say I want to use it, I am then exempt from physical harm from you due to my running mouth."

"You're kidding me." Elena rolled her eyes. Charm didn't work always, but the sincerity held in his light eyes already spoke volumes of his guilt and she knew Nathan truly was repentant.

Groveling or not, she wasn't letting him off easily. "No way."

"Elena, c'mon. I'll even make one. Full color. Lamination as a bonus!" Nathan Drake's plea actually began to take on a begging tone.

His vice grip loosened and Elena took the chance to ease out of it. She sensed his antsiness as she walked to the bed. From it she picked up an item of interest. The weather and adventure-beaten diary of Sir Francis Drake. Over her shoulder, she wagged the leather-bound book in the air. Lightly and with a tinge of amusement at his tenacity, she requested, "Let me read this, Nate?"

Elena heard a quick exhale of a protest, but all Nathan replied was, "Be careful with it, ok?" He hurried over beside her, gesticulating with his hands at the worn book. "It's delicate. Pages are worn out so turn them carefully. Don't bend the spine." His forehead furrowed in protectiveness.

Smiling wryly, she thumbed the deep pock mark on the cover. "It took a bullet. I'd say it's durable enough."

Nathan's hand suddenly closed on her wrist which held the tome, his stare imploring again. "Please."

The faintest blush dusted Elena's cheeks at his close proximity. "All right, I get it. It's your baby. I promise; no mutilations." She placed her free hand over her heart and met his gaze, as if swearing fealty.

"Thank you." Nathan slid his fingers away. A slow, cheeky smirk began spreading from the sides of his mouth, crinkled at the corners of his eyes, and then his teeth showed.

"What?" Elena raised a brow at the strangely exuberant expression aimed at her.

He slowly circled her. "You said my naaame."

"A thing you're given at birth. So?"

"It sounds good." He nodded goofily. Was he still drunk?

"You're just egocentric." Elena felt her cheek twitch at Nathan's observation. Perhaps she was growing fond of him if she kept calling him by name instead of her equivalent of "hey you".

She sideglanced at him, straight-faced. "..._cowboy_," she added pointedly. It wasn't like she couldn't utter the word again.

"Lies." Nathan wouldn't quit grinning. He surveyed his room. "I would like to take you up on your earlier offer."

"Hmm?" Elena said distractedly. Already her nose was practically buried in the pages of the diary as she perused the ancient text.

"The one about finding my ring."

"Give me a sec." Elena ran the tip of her finger across a particularly smooth scrawl of line. She ought to ask Nathan to translate the messier scripts for her.

"I'll reward you with a two-headed monkey sipping a sangria," Nathan added enticingly, his voice sounding far away.

A beautiful and intricate diagram of an ornate statue made Elena stare harder at the current page. How long did Francis Drake take to sketch something like this? Did he seat himself at a table, illuminated by candlelight in the night? Or was he the vagrant artist, standing and studying with a writing utensil and journal only? She barely registered sitting on the edge of the bed, nor Nathan's words. "Sure."

His jocular laugh filled the air.

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Nate shook his head. It seemed he was forgiven, but man, Elena sure had a strange way of telling him. He had just begun his hunt when Elena invited herself into his room so he had a ways to go before hitting gold. Or in this case, silver.

Some minutes later rifling through the bathroom --or possibly an hour-- turned out to be a bust. Slightly dejected, but feeling positive, Nate emerged from the meticulously searched bathroom. "Hey, ya wanna grab a bite to eat after I find the ring? And I _will_ find it. I ain't called a treasure hunter for nothing."

Elena had managed to pry herself loose from Drake's diary and assisted in his search. She was currently checking out the underside of his bed and its dark abyss of scary wonders. Elena lay on her stomach, her upper half obscured by his haphazardly thrown blanket that drooped over the side of the mattress like willow tree branches. Even from his far vantage point, Nate could tell Elena's rear was a gorgeous sight to behold.

So he silently stepped closer to investigate, seeing as it was impossible for her to notice him ogle with her head stuck under the bed. He crouched next to her, admiring the curvy view of her snug capris over her hips and the firm buttocks. Oh yeah, Nathan Drake, treasure finder extraordinaire. He grinned at the opportunity to create a joke normally reserved for gold to instead involve a woman. "Hey, find anything?"

Elena didn't answer. She probably couldn't hear him with the low altitude and Nate repeated his question loudly. Still no reply and strangely, no movement.

Nate gingerly touched the small of her back to get her attention, almost expecting her to scream or balk. Elena continued her silence which began to poke at Nate's curiosity. With a tad further glee than was gentlemanly proper, his hands traveled to her waist and gently towed her out. Once her head had cleared the metal frame, Nate slowly rolled her onto her back.

Her eyes were fast shut and her level breathing meant she passed out. Exhaustion from their crazy voyage, no doubt. Nate chuckled. Cute. His fingers cleared her wayward blonde strands away from her face.

He leaned over, balancing himself on his palms. He got a good eyeful of Elena's serene dozing. Nate bent down closer, indecisively hovering his mouth hardly an inch away from hers. Warm puffs of her breath mingled with his own. She smelled delightfully of soap and flowers. If Nate were standing, his buckling knees would take him down.

Here he was, about to fulfill what he set out to do onboard the big, big boat after Navarro got his permanent dunking. Sully's impeccably timed interruption prevented him from proceeding.

A jitter in Nate's stomach made him swallow hard.

_Kissing Elena. _The thought alone was enough invitation for Nate to plunge in, but yet he hesitated.

Kissing her was brilliant as she slept. Elena was totally out of it. She couldn't tell, and he could do it for however long he pleased. If she woke, he would simply stop before she realized what was happening.

Then Nate sighed. Why should he have all the fun? Locking lips was an activity for two, not solo.

He reluctantly pulled away. Hooking the best treasures required patience. This baby was a deep dive.

One of Elena's arms was outstretched into the black hole of the bed, like she was reaching for something. Nate dipped his head below the squeaky bed springs and let his eyes adjust to dimness.

He grinned widely. Ol' Francis was back on board; a sparking glint lay in arm's reach and so was its complimentary leather cord.

Nate fetched the ring. Holding it up with his index finger and thumb, he read the engraving as he had a multitude of times.

_Sic parvis magna. _Greatness from small beginnings.

Nate switched focus from the ring onto Elena.

"Thanks for finding it again."

-- THE END --


End file.
